COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 3, 2011) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team took their second 2011 FIVB World League victory on Friday, out-blocking Puerto Rico 14-0 in a 24-26, 29-27, 25-17, 25-17 victory in San Juan.

With the victory, the U.S. Men improve to 2-1 in Pool A in the Continental Round while Puerto Rico falls to 0-3. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT in San Juan.

After a lackluster first-set loss, the U.S. Men battled to win the second set as Puerto Rico fought off three set points. The U.S. Men cruised to victory in the third and fourth sets.

Setter Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) was brought in for Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania) in the second set while outside hitter Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) started the third and fourth sets for Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.).

"Both sides made more errors than they wanted," U.S. Men's Team Captain Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) said. "I am really glad to win after a tough battle. Our guys from the bench Paul Lotman and Brian Thornton stabilized our game with key production."

U.S. opposite Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii) led all scorers with 20 points on 15 kills (0.500 hitting efficiency), three blocks and two aces. Priddy, at outside hitter, added 19 points on 14 kills (41.2 kill percent) three blocks and two aces.

“First of all I am happy to get the win,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach) said. “We didn’t start the first set very well and had some problems finding our rhythm. Lotman and Thornton did a good job and Stanley was very good tonight. Thornton got significant playing time and he did well.”

Puerto Rico out-hit the U.S. Men 56-47. The U.S. Men’s hitting efficiency was 0.292 while their kill percent was 41.6. Puerto Rico’s hitting efficiency was 0.261 while its kill percent was 41.8.

The U.S. Men had seven aces while Puerto Rico had four. Puerto Rico also had 20 service errors while the U.S. was charged with 13.

Among other U.S. scorers, Lotman finished with eight points on six kills and two aces. Middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) scored seven points on three kills, three blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah) added seven points on four kills and three blocks.

Anderson scored six points on five kills and one block. Thornton finished with one point on a block.

Thornton was credited with 13 running sets and one fault on 50 attempts. Suxho finished with 10 running sets and no faults on 32 attempts.

Lambourne led the U.S. Men in digging with 10 and seven faults on 24 attempts. He was also credited with eight excellent receptions and no faults on 17 attempts. Anderson led the team in excellent receptions with 17, but also had four faults on 27 attempts.

Knipe started Priddy and Anderson at outside hitter, Lee and Millar at middle blocker, Stanley at opposite, Suxho at setter and Lambourne at libero.

Besides Lotman and Thornton, opposite Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) also played as a substitute.

The two teams battled back and forth in the first set, both showing some nerves with service errors. The U.S. Men scored their first point with a Stanley ace and went on to score on a Stanley kill and Priddy block along with several Puerto Rico errors to lead 8-7 at the first technical timeout (TTO). Puerto Rico tied the score with a kill after the break, but Stanley kept the U.S. Men ahead with his second ace. A service error gave the ball back to Puerto Rico, which scored on a U.S. hitting error and a kill, taking an 11-10 lead. The United States regained the lead at 12-11 on a Puerto Rico error and Priddy kill. The U.S. Men later took a 15-12 lead on a Puerto Rico service error, and two blocks. A Puerto Rico kill followed by Stanley kill gave the U.S. a 16-13 lead at the second TTO. But Puerto Rico came out of the break and grabbed the momentum after a U.S. error with a kill by Victor Rivera after a long rally. Another V. Rivera kill one-on-one against Lee pumped up the crowd and tied the score. The teams were still tied at 19-19 when the U.S. went up by two on two straight Puerto Rico errors. However a U.S. service error gave the ball back to Puerto Rico, which scored two straight points on a U.S. error and a Jose Rivera kill. Puerto Rico reached set point first at 24-23 on a Victor Rivera kill. Stanley tied it with a kill of the block. A Muniz kill gave Puerto Rico a second set point and a U.S. hitting error ended the set.

Puerto Rico took an 8-4 lead to open the second set as the U.S. struggled with errors, scoring on a Priddy kill. Coming out of the break, the U.S. regained some momentum with an Anderson kill and scored the next three points behind Priddy’s serve to tie the score at 8-8. Puerto Rico responded with a four-point run, including two aces by Escalante to lead 12-8 and cause Knipe to call timeout. Lee came out of the timeout with a kill and the U.S. scored the next four points behind his serve, including a block by Millar and Stanley to tie the score at 12-12 and cause Puerto Rico to call timeout. An Anderson kill gave the U.S. the edge. Later, with the score tied at 4-14, Priddy’s kill and Thornton’s block put the U.S. Men up 16-14 at the second TTO. Puerto Rico quickly tied the score on two straight kills by Soto and Victor Rivera to tie the score. Neither team could gain more than a one-point edge. The United States reached set point first at 25-24 on Puerto Rico’s hitting error, but Soto tied it with a kill. A Priddy block gave the U.S. set point again, but Puerto Rico came back again with a kill. The U.S. took a third set point at 27-26, but Puerto Rico tied it with a block. A Puerto Rico service error gave the U.S. men their fourth set point and Priddy ended the set with a kill.

Set 3 again began as a battle as the teams traded kills to tie the score at 7-7 when a Priddy ace gave the U.S. an 8-7 lead at the first TTO. Priddy came out of the break to score with a second ace and a Puerto Rico hitting error put the U.S. men ahead 10-7. Soto ended the run with a kill and another Soto kill pulled Puerto Rico to within two at 10-8. A Puerto Rico serving error made it 11-8, but Puerto Rico scored on a kill and a U.S. serving error to pull to within one at 11-10. A Lotman kill pulled the U.S. ahead again. The U.S. led by two at the second TTO, 16-14 and scored once more after the break to lead by three. The U.S. still led by three at 19-16 when David Lee took the serve on Puerto Rico’s serving error and took the U.S. Men on a 4-0 run, including an ace and two Stanley errors, to give the U.S. a 23-16 lead. Puerto Rico scored once more on a U.S. service error. But kills by Lotman and Priddy ended the set.

The U.S. took an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the fourth set, scoring on two kills by Stanley, two by Lotman and two by Priddy along with Puerto Rico errors. Puerto Rico pulled to within two at 10-8 but the U.S. Men increased the lead again with a Lee kill, Millar block and Stanley kill, causing Puerto Rico to call timeout. The U.S. scored one more point before Puerto Rico came back with three straight points on a Soto kill and two U.S. errors. Millar ended the run with a kill and the teams traded points. A Lotman kill gave the U.S. a 16-12 lead at the second TTO. Coming out of the break, the U.S. Men scored on two straight Lotman aces, causing Puerto Rico to call timeout, however the U.S. scored again on a Priddy kill to lead 18-12. The lead increased to 19-12 when Soto finally ended the onslaught with a kill. But Puerto Rico never scored more than one point in a row. Leading 23-16, the U.S. reached match point on Priddy’s kill. A U.S. hitting error gave Puerto Rico one more point before Lee ended the match with a kill.

Tickets to see the U.S. Men play Poland at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates are available at the Sears Centre Arena Box Office (5333 Prairie Stone Parkway), online at SearsCentre.com or by calling (888) SEARSTIX (732-7784).

Tickets to see the U.S. Men take on world No. 1 Brazil in Tulsa at the Reynolds Center at the University of Tulsa are available online at TulsaHurricane.com. Tickets are available at the box office (800 South Tucker Drive) by calling (918) 631-4688 or in person (office hours 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday-Friday).

Tickets to see the U.S. Men play Puerto Rico on July 1-2 (7 p.m. PT both nights) at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach can be purchased by visiting the Long Beach State athletics web site, by calling the ticket office at (562) 985-4949 or by visiting the box office (open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. starting June 6; the address is 1250 Bellflower Blvd.).